Some genetic variations are associated with susceptibility to diabetic nephropathy in type 1 diabetes.

The increased prevalence of diabetes mellitus has caused a rise in the occurrence of its chronic complications, such as diabetic nephropathy (DN), which is associated with elevated morbidity and mortality. Studies have demonstrated that besides the known environmental risk factors, diabetic nephropathy has a major genetic component. Great efforts have been made to identify these main genes, but results are still inconsistent. The aim of this study was to investigate if some common single nucleotide polymorphisms associated with diabetic nephropathy in type 1 diabetes and to evaluate the effect of these single nucleotide polymorphisms on less severe stage of diabetic nephropathy, defined as microalbuminuria. In our study we did not found any association between the studied genes and diabetic nephropathy so further studies must be done in larger populations with different phenotypes of renal impairment to evaluate if these genes are associated with the development of diabetic nephropathy.